Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Man in underpants criticised for crawling over frozen river to rescue dog

A man who stripped down to his underwear and crawled across a frozen river to rescue his trapped dog has been condemned by firefighters. According to an eyewitness, the man fell into the River Stour, in Dedham, Essex, at about 10:00 GMT on Sunday but managed to climb out with the animal.

Fellow dog walker Paul Wenborne, who witnessed the incident, described it as a "foolish act of bravery". An Essex Fire Service spokesman said: "This was extremely dangerous."

Mr Wenborne, 52, of Rayleigh, Essex, said he was amazed at the man's actions. "I was with two friends and we couldn't believe what we were seeing," he said. "He stripped down to his pants and started crawling across the ice.

"About a yard or so from the dog, he fell in but managed to get hold of the dog and put it on the ice. He then had to swim two or three yards and then crawl back on the ice to dry land. He put his clothes back on and carried on. It was a foolish act of bravery."